Lead Business Analyst

CMS Distribution; Castleford; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

CMS Distribution is seeking an experienced Lead Business Analyst to oversee a team of analysts and drive the transformation agenda across the group. You will work closely with business super users and the Business Transformation Programme to deliver automated processes and integrated SAP solutions.

The role requires strong leadership, excellent communication, and a track record of delivering change projects, system integrations, and benefits realisation across multiple business units.

Qualifications

• Experience leading a team of business analysts.
• Expertise in delivering operation design and process re-engineering.
• Strong SAP configuration knowledge and integration mindset.
• Proven ability to align IT and business strategy and benefits.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop the business analysis service for the organisation and its units.
• Define and implement holistic business solutions with stakeholders and IT teams.
• Oversee requirements gathering, business models, and feasibility studies.
• Drive change initiatives and ensure benefits are defined and realised.
• Support testing cycles and ensure traceability and quality of deliverables.
• Manage workshop delivery and communicate findings to senior stakeholders.

Skills

Leadership

Business analysis

Stakeholder management

Process modelling

Requirements engineering

Change management

SAP

Testing (test cases)

Communication

Project delivery (agile/waterfall)

Education

Industry recognised business process qualification

Tools

SAP

Job description

This role will be key in supporting the Group on the implementation of Business Change Projects while managing a team of business analysts. It will support the delivery of an ambitious agenda for the automation of business processes across the organisation. Individuals working in the role will be an experienced ERP analyst that will work closely with business super users and the Business Transformation Programme. The individual will need to be self-motivated, have excellent interpersonal, technical, and analytical skills. A key requirement of this role will be demonstrable experience in delivering Operation Design (Business-Processes), process re-engineering and supporting business-change projects required, system integrations post acquisitions and group strategic projects. As a leader, this role will have responsibility for the business analysis service provision within the organisation and its business units, where advice given and decisions made will have a measurable impact on the profitability and effectiveness of the organisation.

Job description:

Job Purpose Summary

This role will be key in supporting the Group on the implementation of Business Change Projects while managing a team of business analysts. It will support the delivery of an ambitious agenda for the automation of business processes across the organisation. Individuals working in the role will be an experienced ERP analyst that will work closely with business super users and the Business Transformation Programme. The individual will need to be self-motivated, have excellent interpersonal, technical, and analytical skills. A key requirement of this role will be demonstrable experience in delivering Operation Design (Business-Processes), process re-engineering and supporting business-change projects required, system integrations post acquisitions and group strategic projects. As a leader, this role will have responsibility for the business analysis service provision within the organisation and its business units, where advice given and decisions made will have a measurable impact on the profitability and effectiveness of the organisation.

Role Responsibilities

• Working with stakeholders at all levels to ensure business and IT improvements can be made to achieving business objectives; defining strategies, agreeing and prioritising business requirements, conducting feasibility studies, producing both organisational-level and detailed business models, and overseeing the definition and implementation of holistic solutions.
• As a leader, you will take responsibility for the business analysis service provision for an organisation or business unit, where advice given, and decisions made will have a measurable impact on the profitability or effectiveness of the organisation.
• You’ll determine the value proposition for the business analysis function.
• You’ll define the roles and responsibilities for the business analysis staff, at all levels and grades.
• You will take an active part, together with other senior technical staff and specialised IT management, in IT policymaking and in both software and hardware procurement.
• You’ll act as an advocate for the business, ensuring the IT provision meets the strategic objectives of the organisation or business unit.
• You will recognise opportunities for the business from organisational and technological change and define change initiatives that will exploit such opportunities.
• You’ll ensure that business benefits are clearly defined, appropriately quantified and are managed through to realisation.

Additional Responsibilities

• As a Lead BA, you will advise and influence executive management throughout the business change lifecycle, ensuring that change initiatives are aligned with the strategy and enterprise architecture.
• To work with the business at all levels, assess problems and identify opportunities, progressing projects from concept, eliciting requirements, and proposing options.
• Constantly evolve company approach to business analysis and ensure we are using best available methodologies, tools, and processes.
• Allocate workload across your team for support, change and project, closely working alongside other stakeholders for support and project activities.
• Use your SAP knowledge and experience to build SAP configuration as a core competency in the team, and in the wider business.
• Ongoing reviews of business processes, digital customer/user journeys and developing optimisation approaches.
• Management of business analysis, procedural and training documentation documents; including creation, review, updating and maintenance.
• Workshop and presentation delivery are part of the day to day, ensuring new ideas and findings are communicated to stakeholders and the wider team.
• When required, you will support testing cycles with IT and business resource to ensure credible and fit for purpose solutions are delivered into the business, including the documentation of test traceability criteria, test cases/scripts and defect logs.

Key Measures of Performance

• Process optimization results.
• Incident management led KPIs: aged cases/on time closure
• Project led KPIs: on time/ on budget etc o Quality effectiveness.
• Stakeholder Engagement feedback
• Project management KPIs.
• Team management metrics include: Staff 121’s, appraisals, and reviews on time

Skills & Personal Attributes

• Writing and presenting fluently and persuasively on all aspects of business analysis work will be a core skill of yours, while communicating effectively with external parties, executives, and staff at all levels.
• You’ll be an expert in applying techniques which help when investigating, analysing, modelling, and recording a business area or system of interest, including business environment analysis and process modelling.
• You’ll be an expert in methods and techniques for preparing and presenting business cases, requests for proposal (RFP) invitations to tender (ITT) and statements of requirements/work both verbally and in writing.
• Hand on experience and ability to conduct rigorous analysis and testing, utilising techniques such as Persona Development, Customer Journey Mapping, Requirements Engineering, Benefit Analysis, Change Impact Assessments, Pulse Surveys, Requirement Traceability, Test Cases/Scripts etc
• Industry recognised Business Process related qualification
• Team management and direct report related duties
• Experience of agile or waterfall project delivery, and business analysis methodologies.
• Experience of reporting project updates to steering groups and stakeholders.
• Excellent verbal and written communication
• Experience & Knowledge
• The ideal candidate for this position would have worked within a Business Analyst position before where they have led a team, so is comfortable with leading meetings, holding 1-2-1's with the team and ensuring best practice is embedded.
• Since so many business processes are centred on our SAP ERP system, experience in using and configuring SAP is a must.